Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons: Understanding, Designing, and Carving Romantic Heirlooms

(Paperback)

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Learn to create beautiful lovespoons, hand-carved symbols of affection popular for centuries. This is the most thorough and detailed book available on the subject of lovespoon carving. Contains sections on the history of lovespoon carving, selecting woods, using and maintaining tools, applying long-lasting finishes as well as 3 step-by-step projects and 15 original patterns. Learn techniques to carve romantic gifts from a professional lovespoon artist. Included is a chapter on the history and symbolism of this captivating craft.

Reviews

Across northern and eastern Europe and parts of Africa, a richly symbolic and highly personal decorative art form has evolved over the past four centuries: the art of carving lovespoons. Most often imbued with details representing love or romantic intentions, lovespoons have varied greatly in design and degree of complexity, depending on the emotional intent, cultural background, creativity and carving skills of the maker. In the past several decades, lovespoons have enjoyed a resurgence of popularity and a corresponding increase in their symbolic and expressive vocabulary. In this book, the author, David Western, a Welshman now living in Victoria, BC, Canada, presents a clear, beautifully illustrated and photographed, step-by-step guide to the history, design and carving of lovespoons. Photographer Chris Roberts' luscious photographs make this book a feast for the eyes as well. Western begins with a photographic tour of lovespoons throughout history, followed by a fabulous gallery of current work that includes several pages of his own masterpieces. From there on, it becomes a how-to book, pitched at a level an avid beginner can follow. He walks us through the relevant properties of various kinds of woods, how they move, the importance of grain direction, and all the subtleties that carvers need to know when attempting such delicate and complicated cuts as a Celtic knot. Chapters on tools and sharpening follow, again clearly photographed and quite thoroughly explicated. The tool chapter shows the complete range of carving knives, chisels and other gear -- including power tools such as the bandsaw, drill press and Dremel tools -- that you'll want in your arsenal if you plan to carve your own lovespoons. The sharpening chapter is an illuminating tutorial on the hows and whys of sharpening and all the paraphrenalia you'll need to keep your tools in top condition for an effective and successful carving experience. Next comes a practice chapter called "Technique," in which Western shows the basic types of cuts and motifs used in lovespoons and how they are made, including types of borders, curves, lettering, chain links, swivels, and the spoon bowl itself. Knowing well that his students will make mistakes, he devotes six pages to fixing the most common ones. After an excellent discussion of finishing materials, techniques, whys and wherefores, Western walks the reader through three complete lovespoon projects, "novice," intermediate and advanced. These may look difficult at first glance, but with Western's thorough instructions, I believe that any ambitious craftsman could accomplish them. The final chapters of the book include a worthy tutorial on the process of designing lovespoons followed by line drawings and photos of 15 varied lovespoon projects, ready to enlarge to actual size with a copy machine and get right to work, using all the knowledge and experience you've gained by reading this far. It is a very nicely thought-out progression from beginning to end.

As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 147 The lovespoon is believed to have originated from the simple soup spoon. Just why anyone got the idea of converting such a plain and utilitarian item into an article of dedication and devotion, is hard to say. Yet the process appears to have occurred in several countries, for the Scandinavians, Europeans, Africans and (most famously) the Welsh, all have the tradition of carving lovespoons as a token of love and affection. The lovespoon is made from a single piece of wood and although it may be so richly decorated as to no longer be able to serve as a spoon, the spoon shape is essential to its design. David Western, the author of this book, sees lovespoon carving as 'a vibrant and exciting art form, not only because of its beautiful carvings, but also because of its rich tradition and its relevance to modern times'. David begins his book with what he terms an Historical Perspective, tracing the history of the lovespoon and indicating how the student may gain further insights into their design. Chapter 2 explores Myths and Meanings - the symbology of lovespoons - while Chapter 3 presents a wide range of examples of the lovespoons being made today. Chapters 4 to 8 cover the basics of the art, from selection of wood and the choice and care of tools, to the kinds of finishing generally used. The next three Chapters provide step by step instructions for carving several lovespoons, from novice through to advanced. Chapter 12 offers advice on design, while the last Chapter contains patterns for 16 Lovespoons, each with photo/s, a line drawing and description. Lovespoon carving is clearly challenging, but as the many generations of lovespoon carvers would no doubt agree, it is also rewarding. About the Author: David Western constantly endeavors to expand the artistic boundaries of lovespoon carving. David was born in Cardiff, Wales, and now resides in Victoria, B.C., Canada. A self-taught carver, David graduated from the London College of Furniture with certification in cabinetmaking and advanced furniture design. He also holds a degree in education from the Llniversity of British Columbia. While running a cabinetmaking shop in Victoria, David's casual interest in Welsh lovespoons grew into an overwhelming passion. Carving lovespoons to order is now his liveIihood. David also teaches lovespoon carving at Camosun College in Victoria. David specializes in complicated and delicate Celtic knotwork. He also draws ideas from Art Deco, Northwest Coast First Nations, and Islamic art forms when creating his unique designs. He keeps a foot firmly in tradition though: each of his spoons is handcarved from a single piece of wood. All of David's spoons also demonstrate the deep passion and commitment that separate genuine lovespoons from mere souvenirs.

Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons not only gives you the lowdown on carving but it also tells the history, and myths and meanings behind lovespoons. Once you've read about the basics including the types of wood, tools, sharpening, techniques and finishing, the author provides step-by-step instruction (accompanied by helpful photos) for carving novice, intermediate and advanced lovespoons. Also included is candid information on design and 15 different patterns for you to use or adapt. And this book is full of great photos! Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons seems to have all the information you need to get started in carving your own lovespoon.

I started out with the idea of comparing David Western's Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons to Carving Spoons by Shirley Adler, since Matt Kelly had told me there had not been a review of Adler's book in WOM. Both are published by Fox Chapel, which would seem to put them at odds with each other. Such is not the case, however; all I can say about David Western's book is "Wow, this is over-the-top spoon carving." I think Adler's book is best for introducing love spoons to carvers and deserves a review on its own. She will take a carver from beginner to advanced spoon forms. David Western was born in Cardiff, Wales and now resides in Victoria, British Columbia. Trained at the London College of Furniture, he has certifications in cabinet making and advanced furniture design. He now carves custom spoons for his livelihood, specializing in Celtic Knotwork designs. He draws ideas from Art Deco, Northwest Coast First Nations, and Islamic Art forms to create his delicate one-piece spoons. Contents Preface Introduction Part One: Lovespoons then and now Historical Perspective Myths and Meanings Lovespoons today Part Two: The Basics Wood Tools Sharpening Technique Finishing Part Three: Lovespoon Carving Novice Intermediate Advanced Part Four: Designs and Patterns Designing a Lovespoon Patterns Sources The Preface carries the stamp of approval from Dr Emma Lile, Curator of St. Fagan's Natural History Museum, in Cardiff, Wales, home of the oldest know lovespoons in this form. The Introduction reveals Western's passion for creativity and his desire to replace some of the banal plasticity of our society with the warmth of handcarved woods. Part One plunges you into a wealth of historical material with displays of ancient spoons from St. Fagan's in Western's native Wales and shows the depth of research into the historical meanings and symbology of these spoons, as well as references to other collections, and how they can be applied into modern spoons. Part Two is all about the basics of carving, woods to use, tools and of course, sharpening, but the Wood !! David uses spectacular, highly figured maple, red alder, walnut, and cherry. In a craft where we tend to use woods with little or no grain showing, Western is carving in a Technicolor of flaming, swirling, and spalted figures that dazzle the eye. Techniques include chipcarving, ball-in-cage, chain links, and scrollsaw work for the pierced elements. With such delicate work, a highly important section on mistakes and repairs is appreciated. Finishing relies on Watco Danish Oil to bring out the fire in his pieces and beeswax polish to protect them. Part Three begins Western's step-by-step series of spoon carving with beginner, intermediate and advanced spoon designs. The beginner spoon contains a number of traditional elements but will require a scroll saw to cut out the several pierced areas. The intermediate spoon introduces natural looking leaves combined with Celtic Knotwork and hearts. The advanced spoon has multiple balls-in-a-cage and chain links with hearts. Part Four is about designing spoons and patterns and the teacher in David shows in his encouragement for people to tap into their own creativity. He shows that even the doodles of an uninhibited six year old can give form to the vague ideas of spoons that might be, and that it does not take great artwork to create new ideas. Thi

Author Bio

David Western constantly endeavors to expand the artistic boundaries of lovespoon carving. David was born in Cardiff, Wales, and now resides in Victoria, B.C., Canada. A self-taught carver, David graduated from the London College of Furniture with certification in cabinetmaking and advanced furniture design. He also holds a degree in education from the University of British Columbia. While running a cabinetmaking shop in Victoria, David's casual interest in Welsh lovespoons grew into an overwhelming passion. Carving lovespoons to order is now his livelihood. David also teaches lovespoon carving at Camosun College in Victoria. David specializes in complicated and delicate Celtic knotwork. He also draws ideas from Art Deco, Northwest Coast First Nations, and Islamic art forms when creating his unique designs. He keeps a foot firmly in tradition though: each of his spoons is handcarved from a single piece of wood. All of David's spoons also demonstrate the deep passion and commitment that separate genuine lovespoons from mere souvenirs.